Detroit Tigers Bullpen strong in May, in good place moving forward

Detroit Tigers relief pitchers rebounded from a disastrous April with a strong May. The bullpen has been solid this month, and should continue to find success as the season progresses.

Detroit Tigers fans, unfortunately, have become accustomed to see struggling bullpens. From Jose Valverde’s implosion to the struggles of Joe Nathan, Joba Chamberlain and Mark Lowe, it hasn’t always been easy going.

Following the end of April, it seemed that the 2017 Tigers could be heading down a similar path in terms of struggling.

Francisco Rodriguez had so far converted six saves, but he was also surrendering 2.79 home runs per nine innings and owned an unsightly 5.41 FIP.

Anibal Sanchez was also struggling as Detroit’s long reliever, with a -0.4 WAR and 4.91 walks and 3.68 home runs allowed per nine frames.

Elsewhere, 2016 bullpen stalwart Kyle Ryan sported a 7.59 xFIP and just 1.59 punch outs per nine innings.

Add in struggles from Bruce Rondon, Joe Jimenez and William Cuevas in limited work, and the bullpen wasn’t in the best place.

Overall, the group ranked 28^th in WAR and had the highest xFIP and WHIP in the league.

Fast forward to the tail-end of May and things have changed for the better.

Detroit has moved the team’s pitch reliever, Justin Wilson, he of the 1.46 SIERA, into the closer’s role.

A Reshuffled Deck

The team has also settled on a new rotation, as it were, in terms of setup artist.

Shane Greene is thriving while pitching late in games. The right-hander owns a 1.190 WHIP to go along with 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings.

He also owns a 3.03 FIP to go along with a 28.9 strikeout percentage. Both numbers are second only to Wilson on the team.

Joining Greene in pitching the seventh and eighth is the team’s other Wilson, Alex Wilson.

The dependable right-hander is once again recording outs and limiting base runners, with a 1.47 ERA and a 0.927 WHIP.

Rounding out the trio of setup options is left-hander Blaine Hardy.

With Justin Wilson closing games and Kyle Ryan pitching in Toledo, Hardy has seen an uptick in work as the bullpen’s top southpaw.

So far, the Washington native has logged a 3.78 SIERA and 7.43 strikeouts per nine innigns.

New Faces

One of the reasons Detroit’s newly-configured bullpen has succeeded is because the team has mixed and matched with different bullpen options.

This has seen the likes of Ryan, Jimenez, Rondon and Cuevas head to Triple-A Toledo, but it has also opened the door for other relievers to make a mark.

Chad Bell—a hard-throwing, 28-year-old southpaw who worked as a starter in the minors—has yet to allow a run in his first 7.2 Major League innings.

Those innings came over the span of four outings, and included six strikeouts compared to just four hits and three walks allowed.

Moving forward, Bell could easily pitch in long relief. However, with the recent addition of Warwick Saupold to the active roster, it’s possible the left-hander could find more work in shorter stints as the second left-hander behind Hardy.

The Proof is in the Pudding

With Justin Wilson, Shane Greene, Alex Wilson, Blaine Hardy and Chad Bell handling the majority of the bullpen work, watching Detroit Tigers relievers pitch late in games has become much less stressful.

Since the beginning of May, the Tigers have the third-lowest WHIP among bullpens in the league.

Detroit’s relief pitchers also rank third in walk percentage, eighth in xFIP, 10^th in SIERA and 11^th in strikeout percentage.

These are marked improvements over April, when the Tigers ranked last in WHIP, owned the third-highest walk percentage and finished with the highest xFIP and the seventh-highest SIERA.

Potential Future Reinforcements

Injuries and inconsistency are commonplace in a Major League Baseball season, so naturally, depth is needed.

Luckily for the Detroit Tigers, the team could have some intriguing on the way in the future.

Bruce Rondon is turning things around in Triple-A, with a 0.69 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 13 innings.

Once he gets his walks (10) under control, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the flamethrower back in Detroit’s bullpen.

Additionally, Joe Jimenez will likely return to the Detroit bullpen once he becomes healthy. The future closer recently hit the disabled list in Toledo.

Minor League Depth

The team could also turn to 40-man roster relievers in Daniel Stumpf and Victor Alcantara.

Stumpf, a left-handed hurler, has struck out 9.9 batters per nine frames. He’s also logged a 3.86 ERA in 16.1 innings with the Mud Hens.

Meanwhile, Alcantara has yet to allow a run in his first two Triple-A innings.

The former Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim farmhand moved to the bullpen full time this season, and has so far thrived.

In 23 Double-A frames, Alcantara pitched to a 1.96 ERA and a 1.174 WHIP.

There is also the possibility that the team turns to the hard-throwing duo of Arcenio and Ruben Alaniz at some point.

Both were impressive in Spring Training and replicated their success so far in the minor leagues in 2017.

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